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  —Fearless Astrology

  Arianna and I walked back up to the suite together. Almost everyone had gone. Paige spoke quietly with Graciela Perez. Chili and Alex sat at a table with Bobby, Mary Elizabeth, and a couple of other people from the magazine. I still wasn’t sure how I was going to tell Chili that her sophisticated celebrity chef was a teenager.

  Everyone turned to look at us as we came inside.

  “I need to just hide out and get my life together,” Arianna whispered, “but I don’t know where to go.”

  I thought of Terra Bella Beach, where everything was low-key and laid back. Where some people still left their houses unlocked at night.

  “Let’s talk later,” I said. “Maybe we can come up with something.”

  Just then Josh stepped out from the catering suite. He had changed out of his Dr. Jekyll costume and had on jeans and a deep brown sweater the color of his hair.

  He flashed that bleach-strip smile and put out his arms.

  Arianna whimpered and ran to him. I stood watching. At least something had turned out right.

  My Sherlock notebook had come in handy after all. Josh and Arianna left with her mom. I sat trying to look invisible and gazed out at the city while

  Chili and Paige said their goodbyes to Alex and Graciela. I had made enough notes about the evening’s events to almost fill it when I became aware of someone behind me.

  “What a night.” Henry Jaffa sat down beside me. He had ditched the coat and raven. Only the forgotten moustache remained. “I had no idea about Stacy,” he said. “I just thought she was, well, ambitious.”

  “She wanted the glory, that’s for sure, and she didn’t care how she got it.”

  “If you hadn’t become involved, she might have pulled it off. You realize that, don’t you?”

  I hadn’t thought about it. Could he be right? “And all I wanted was the astrology column. Funny how important it seemed, at the time.” I bit my lip to keep from crying again.

  “I hope you’ll forgive a personal question,” he said, “but is there something going on in your life right now?”

  “The usual stuff,” I told him. “Parents getting divorced, boyfriend not into me.”

  “You know, there’s a theory—I’m not sure how accurate it is—that bad experiences actually make one a better writer.”

  “I remember reading something about that in one of your interviews,” I said. “I sure hope it’s true. Thank you for all you’ve tried to do for me, Mr. Jaffa. I can’t tell you how much it means to me.”

  He gave me that weird but warm Aquarius grin. “Don’t you think it’s time you called me Henry? All of my writers do.”

  My lip trembled. Couldn’t help it. Thank goodness I was an Aquarius like him. I managed a weird grin of my own.

  “Yes, Henry,” I said. “I guess it is.”

  NOTES TO SELF

  Now I’m one of the people—one of the writers—who get to call Henry Jaffa just Henry. Stacy had been one of those people once. Now, her worst fears would be realized, and she would lose her job and probably a great deal more. Still, the Gemini had managed to fool Henry Jaffa. She might even be able to talk herself out of this situation.

  The next day as we got ready to drive home, I opened the front car door and stepped aside.

  “About time,” Paige said, and climbed inside. “From now on, we can take turns.”

  CRUSHES: HOW TO FASCINATE A PISCES

  By Logan McRae

  This dreamy Water sign lives in his head. He’s the guy staring out the window in class, unaware that the teacher has just called on him. Even the most intelligent Pisces can stumble trying to get out the right words when he’s nervous. And he usually is nervous when attention is focused on him.

  Kind, caring, and sympathetic, he often lacks assertiveness, at least until you get to know him better and discover that wicked Pisces sense of humor. Because of his gentle nature, many mistake him for a doormat and try to take advantage of him. Bad idea. Misjudging or trying to manipulate this guy will keep you from ever getting close to him.

  He loves anything creative—art, music, writing—and is attracted to girls who share these interests. However, you could be the most creative creature on the planet, but if you use that creativity to put people down or make jokes at the expense of others, the Fish will swim right on past you.

  In his fantasy life, there’s a perfect girl for him out there, one who will understand him and share his dreams and goals.

  Here are three ways to be that girl: • Be yourself. Pisces doesn’t judge. He can spot a phony the moment she opens her mouth, and sometimes sooner. This is one guy who will accept and value your vulnerable side.

  • Share your dreams. The bigger the better. This guy won’t tell you that you’re crazy or that you should be more practical. His dreams are as big as yours.

  • Be calm. This guy is searching for inner peace, and a tranquil, even mystical vibe will appeal to him. Talk about meditating and yoga. Carry intriguing books on spirituality, mythology, magic, astrology, and be ready to discuss them when he notices. Because he will.

  What to say when he asks you out: “I’ve been dreaming that you would call me.”

  25

  YOUR SUN SIGN ISN’T A LIFE SENTENCE. IT IS A MENU

  OF POSSIBILITIES. ARIES CAN SETTLE DOWN. TAURUS

  CAN BE FLEXIBLE. GEMINI CAN BE FAITHFUL. CANCER

  CAN CONQUER THOSE MOODS. LEO CAN SHARE THE

  STAGE. VIRGO CAN RELAX AND SEE WHAT’S RIGHT AS

  WELL AS WHAT ISN’T. LIBRA CAN COMMIT. SCORPIO

  CAN FORGIVE. SAGITTARIUS CAN LEARN TO LISTEN.

  CAPRICORN CAN LIGHTEN UP. AQUARIUS CAN ACT

  IMPULSIVELY. AND PISCES CAN TAKE THE SPOTLIGHT.

  THAT’S WHAT BEING AN EVOLVED SIGN IS ALL ABOUT.

  YOU CAN BE WHATEVER YOU WANT TO BE.

  —Fearless Astrology

  The party was almost two weeks ago. It’s already November, and the changes have been as crazy as the weather. I have been cold all day, but it doesn’t have much to do with the sharp wind. I’ve felt this way since I talked to Jeremy’s girlfriend, and I can no longer ignore the fact that my summer with him is far behind me.

  My dad agreed to let my new friend from Los Angeles come to stay in our guestroom for a couple of weeks. I didn’t mention that the Gemini friend would be arriving with a few secrets and a lot of baggage. For now, at least, it looks as if that was a wise decision. Arianna stayed with us until the media heat died down. Tonight she will return to L.A. with Josh.

  Alex Keen thanked Chili for her mom’s Armenian recipes and said they had “influenced” him for some of the material in his new cookbook. He’ll list her in the acknowledgments, of course. And, by the way, he has a girlfriend in Napa. Underage or not, that unevolved Sadge has lived up to the most unreliable aspects of his sign.

  The official story is that Stacy resigned from her position. Mary Elizabeth is the new editor of CRUSH. When that was announced, Danielle, Stacy’s assistant, quit on the spot. Mary Elizabeth told me that although I still have my internship, she has decided against an astrology column. At least for now. As my Gram Janie says, you win some, you lose some, and you refuse some.

  So, yes, I wrote all of the CRUSH love columns for nothing. But maybe not. I learned a lot about how different Sun signs fall for each other. Maybe that information will come in handy one day.

  Jeremy tried to phone me twice. Both times the message on my voicemail was too garbled to hear. All I got was, “traveling in Ireland with my dad” and “a girl I met.” One day we will speak, and I will force myself to wish him well and pretend that I am not devastated by the way he left me.

  Terra High will still be featured in the beach issue of CRUSH. Today the rain has stopped, and we’ll actually be able to see the sun setting at our photo shoot this evening. Odd that an evening beach shoot will have to take place beneath coming-and-going storm clouds, but that’s the way it is here on the California coast.
Sweaters in summer. Bikinis in the rain. The uncertainty is part of what I love about this place.

  I’m riding in front again, and I have to admit, I like it better up here. But it’s worth the backseat to see the way Paige has come out of her shell. I never realized how we just assumed it was her job to take up the rear. Being a Pisces, she had assumed it too. No more, though.

  She’s in taupe, and Chili in a short strapless black-and-white print, belted at the waist. My white pants are rolled up, and the shirt over my white tank is that orange sherbet color kids in the rest of the country think California girls wear every day.

  There’s a knot in my stomach, a twinge of anticipation. It’s as if I’ve had back-to-back espressos since morning, and I realize that for the first time since the party, I am actually excited about something.

  As we pull into the school parking lot this late Saturday afternoon, I see that Sol is already there. He has dressed California style as well, in shorts and a pale blue shirt that accentuates his eyes. I remember that he’s been wearing that color all week.

  I get out of the car and say, “Hey, Sol.”

  “How’s it goin’?” he replies in a bored kind of way. He’s acted like that all week too.

  “What’s the matter?” I ask.

  “Nothing. I’m just waiting for my girlfriend.”

  “Your girlfriend?” Cute as he is, he’s not for me.

  “You sound surprised.” He gives me a wounded Cancer smile that he probably thinks is soulful.

  “Not at all,” I say. “Good for you.”

  “And you’re still into that Ireland guy?”

  “Yes, I am,” I say, and pretend to look happy.

  Just then Kat’s car screeches up beside us.

  “Freaking watch it,” Chili shouts. “You almost ran over us.”

  “Sorry. That would be a shame.” She gets out wearing her cheer outfit, of course, and flounces up to Sol.

  What follows is a PDA of such proportion that it would get both of them sent straight to the Student Responsibility Center if a civic-minded teacher were watching. Then, Kat takes Sol’s hand, shoots us a smug, self-satisfied look, and heads for the campus.

  “Terra High, Terra High,” Chili chants as they walk away.

  “Poor guy,” I say. “She’ll burn through him in a week.”

  “He deserves better.” Chili eyes me as if to say that I should have taken advantage of her efforts to get Sol and me together.

  The magazine people are already here. I realize that I should have brought a sweater. Bobby waves from the other side of the grassy area that leads to the beach. They will snap some photos here, and then, we’ll walk down to the water, where they will take the celeb shots.

  There he is, the official Terra High celeb, Josh Mellick, his deep brown hair spiked, wearing shorts and a shirt that makes his teeth gleam even whiter. Alex Keen was supposed to have had the job but was replaced at the last minute. The gossip leak about his age and his true-to-his-Sadge sign love life might be getting him lots of publicity, but not in CRUSH.

  Josh drove in from L.A. earlier today, and we all had lunch at Chili’s house. As thrilled as Chili’s mom Stella was, she respected Arianna’s desire for privacy and restrained herself from inviting the entire neighborhood to drop by. Arianna is still there, probably getting cooking lessons and a month’s supply of food. I’ll miss her when she goes back, but I’m pretty sure her life is finally on track now.

  Josh joins the photographer and Bobby, and grins at us.

  “I’m impressed.” Bodmer walks up to me. She’s secured her thick curls with a long scarf, but already many have escaped. Her glasses are poked into her hair, as usual, like a leopard-print headband. “You actually know Josh Mellick. How cool is that?”

  “Hi, Ms. Bodmer,” I say. “I’m glad you came.”

  “It’s too good to miss, even on a Saturday. I’m here to cheer you on, girls.”

  “Hey,” Bobby yells to the photographer. “Get the teach in one of the shots.”

  Bodmer squeals and heads toward him.

  It’s time now.

  I turn to look at Paige. She’s perfect with her pale hair floating behind her and her white eyelet shirt covering a taupe mesh Graciela Perez swimsuit. It’s called a monokini, but it’s mega everything. Paige is even more killer than she was in the Aphrodite costume.

  “Ready?” I ask her.

  She gives me a shy smile. “I still can’t believe this. It should have been you or Chili.”

  “Stop it,” I say. “If anyone is California beach, you are, Paige. Graciela was right about that.”

  “Besides . . . ,” Chili grins. “. . . I told you guys from the start that I didn’t really want it. I just didn’t want Kat to get it.”

  We pose for more group shots and then walk to the beach, where Paige smiles up at Josh in the sand, hands behind her back. White tide swirl around their bare ankles. I can already see how they will look in the magazine, his tanned good looks a backdrop for her understated beauty.

  The sun starts to set in the brilliant purples and pinks. They slip into the ocean, which now looks like shimmering black glass. Standing beside Chili, I realize that my skin is so icy my teeth are almost chattering. I need to borrow someone’s jacket or just head home.

  Except that something is wrong. Chili is staring at me in a strange way, her eyes wide.

  “Logan.” Her voice is part-whisper, part-gasp. “Look!”

  I turn in the direction she has pointed. A form is coming toward me, walking fast, no, not walking, running now. That’s all he is for the first moment, just a figure heading toward me in the sand. Not one of the kids from school, though. He’s dressed in jeans and a khaki jacket. That khaki jacket. In the wind, his dark hair whips around his face. A face I would know anywhere.

  Jeremy. After all he has done to me, why is he here? I stumble through the sand, tears and wind burning my eyes.

  “Jeremy,” I call out, unable to believe what I am seeing.

  “I had to find you, Logan. I tried to call you, left messages. Didn’t you get them?”

  “Only a word or two came through.” I grab his face in my hands and stare into those fierce eyes. “What happened? Who is Tori?”

  “The daughter of my dad’s girlfriend who’s been visiting from Boston. She decided she was in love with me, but nothing happened with us, I swear. She’s nuts, a stalker chick. She even stole my phone.”

  “I know. She answered when I called. I thought . . .”

  “And I couldn’t figure out why I didn’t hear from you. And then, by the time I realized what was going on, I was on tour with my dad. So . . .” He gives me that possessive Taurus smile. “. . . I just got on a plane.”

  “How’d you know where to find me?”

  “Your dad. He’s a nice guy.”

  “And you flew all the way from Dublin?”

  “Yeah. To tell you I love you.” Now he’s pressing his hands against my face. “I love you, Logan.”

  I throw my arms around him and feel his arms wrap around me. We hug the breath from each other, and I inhale the sweet smell of his hair.

  I’m vaguely aware of the others. Sol and Kat, who walk by, arms around each other. Chili. Then Paige, chatting with Bobby and the photographer. Other kids, Bodmer, the magazine crew.

  And, yes, it’s technically a PDA in front of the entire school, but I don’t care. Right now I have everything I thought I had lost. And I’ve gotten back something else too, something I can only begin to understand right now.

  “I love you, too,” I say. “I never stopped.”

  He kisses me again, then steps back and slowly runs his hands along my bare arms. “You’re shivering,” he says. “Let’s go somewhere quiet. Get some coffee. Talk.”

  “Sounds good.” I place my hands over his, and no longer feel the cold.

  We wrap our arms around each other and walk down the beach toward the street, matching our footsteps in perfect rhythm. The crashing waves soun
d surreal, as if it is summer again, and we are back in Monterey. But, no. Jeremy is here, in Terra Bella Beach. He has come all this way to find me.

  “What about you?” His voice is harsh against my cheek. “You haven’t met anyone else, have you?”

  “Of course not. You’re all I could think about. I was so confused.”

  “And you haven’t been getting in trouble with that astrology stuff again, have you?”

  I look up into those teasing, soulful Taurus eyes. “Now, that,” I tell him, “is a story too long and complicated to go into just yet.”

  Too long and complicated, yes. Too insignificant. And too far away, right now, from my Aquarius mind, to even matter.

  WHAT’S YOUR SUN SIGN?

  SIX TRAITS EACH. REMEMBER, THE SUN IS NOT THE

  SUM. IT IS ONLY THE BEGINNING.

  —Fearless Astrology

  Aries: March 21-22 to April 19-20

  Energetic, Enthusiastic, Take-charge, Self-centered,

  Quick-tempered, Aggressive

  You value: Attention

  Taurus: April 20-21 to May 20-21

  Reliable, Kind-hearted, Sensuous,

  Stubborn, Judgmental, Lazy

  You value: Stability

  Gemini: May 21-22 to June 21-22

  Strong communicator, Versatile, Generous,

  Fickle, Scattered, Nervous

  You value: Intellect